The Wayward Daughter
by Fox of Black Shadows
Summary: She had a strong warrior's spirit and it drew him to capture her and take her amongst his clan. He wants to see how strong and how long her warrior spirit will last in the trails of his clan.
1. Chapter 1

The Wayward Daughter

A/N: Okay this is a strange story to say the least. I thought it up while board out of my mind on the first day of school. Let it be known I have a fasination with the youkai in the InuYasha world. My character is a Silver Kitsune Youkai. And if any of you reading this happens to be one of my fans for 'To Be One of The Guys' I am really sorry but they deleted the entire story and the chances of me finding all of my chapters intact are not good ones. So I'm sorry for that really I am. Anyway so here's my second attempt at a Predator fic. Hope you enjoy.

Humans were animals and that's all that he knew. There wasn't anything wrong with hunting them. His name is Malakia, and he's a worthy hunter amongst the Predators. His clan was the strongest and most powerful of all the clans. When other clans would see them coming they would bow their heads in respect. Malakia was the brother to the leader of the Predators. His skin tone was a pale cream color with brown spots on his arms. His dread locks held the rings of his clan

and small bones of some of his kills. Moving swiftly down the hall he entered his room, to see the Queen's head on the wall glaring darkly at him. She was his most prized kill. All others paled in comparison to his Queen skull. The other lesser hunters looked up to him for guidance when it came to hunting. There wasn't a Predator on this ship that didn't know who he was and the honor that he carried.

That was until the faithful day he met her.

Four Years Before

He sat perched on a tree watching the humans go about their lives as if nothing was the matter. They didn't even realize the danger that was lurking very near to where they were. If they had been true animals they would have sensed the impending Predator and run. A particular human caught his eyes. From the scent it was a female human. There was something about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It felt like a warriors' spirit. Shaking that off he knew humans didn't have that strong of a warriors spirit. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was determined to find out. She walked away from the area and into the darkness of a nearby park. He noticed her looking around as if she was sensing the lurking danger. Curiosity got the best of him as he moved forward to get a better look.

Her look had changed from what he saw. The garb she wore became something else. He couldn't place where the garb belonged, but wherever it was it wasn't amongst these people. The gear looked like she was about to fight with someone. Watching in fascination she allowed someone to approach her. His knowledge of English made it easy to understand what was being said even though their accents were hard to place.

"Come on Kai it's time, I've waited two hundred years for this."

"Did you miss me that much, Alexius?"

"In your dreams Kai and you know it."

The male got into a fighting stance.

"Why do you protect them so much? They're just humans."

"Well those humans as you call them are my friends," she spat out in disgust.

"Not everyone one of them, Alexius."

"Well that isn't my problem but you've come to my town and insisted on killing a human I was a friend to."

"They'll die long before you do so I don't see why you stick around."

"Shut up already and fight me."

The Predator perked up at the word fight. The female got in a crouching position that seemed almost animalistic. Then something changed again. Her hair became a long deep silver color. Her eyes changed into amber and her ears became pointed. The short nails she had before became claws. The last thing to appear was the blue eight point star on her forehead. This confused him like nothing else. He watched as the female although smaller than the male leap forward first and crashed into the big male. They fought and fought and finally without warning the girl drew blood by raking her claws across his arm.

"You're going to pay for that Alexius."

"Why don't you go home Kai, and we'll both be better off that way."

"You drew blood Alexius and therefore you have to pay the same price back two fold."

A soft threatening growl escaped her throat. They circled each other like wolves vying for the last piece of deer. It didn't take long for the lighter weighted warrior to take down the bigger one. Of course the damage was suffered. Blood dripped from her shoulder. Her hand rose up to try and stop the bleeding. The shirt she wore slid down and revealed three blue streaks running around her wrist and down her forearm. She winced and limped away from the body that before Malakai's eyes began to melt until nothing was left but a blood smear. This female intrigued him like nothing else. With ease and grace he followed the wounded human or whatever it was to where it lived. He watched in fascination as the creatures wounds healed before his eyes. Shock registered on his face as he watched. That decided him right then and there that he had to examine her under the guidance of his people to see how long a creature that can heal in record time would fare as a hunter. Moving forward into the house once the creature, Alexius was asleep he moved over to her room. Looking around with his heat sensors on he made sure nothing was out of the ordinary. What he missed was the glittering amber eyes that watched him from the shadows. Malakai stopped hearing a growl that was so dark that he had to decipher if it was friend or foe. The latter was a better thought. Turning around he was slammed into the wall by the female he sought. Her eyes glittered maliciously.

"Get out," she growled. "What ever you are get out of this house now!"

Raising his hand he brought it crashing down in hopes of knocking her out but no such luck. She caught that wrist and began to squeeze. He could hear the groaning of the metal around his wrist. Malakai had to admit she was a strong one, and strong warriors were welcomed in the clan, or at least he hoped so. Using his weight he managed to move her and slam her into the wall nearest them.

"Come on lets fight little girl."

"For your information I'm over three hundred years old, and I am not little."

The Predator seeing and opening attacked and managed to hit a pressure point sending the girl into unconsciousness. Inwardly he smirked at his accomplishments. She had spirit and it made him wonder how she would fare.


	2. Chapter 2: I Remember You

The Wayward Daughter

Chapter 2: I Remember You

A/N: Sorry it took so long people… I've just gotten through my first term at my new college. Sorry also that its so short.

Alexius came awake with a splitting headache. Her shoulder was giving her a bit of trouble. Standing up she walked towards the nearest free wall. Putting her shoulder up far enough she slammed herself into the wall. A satisfying pop told her that her shoulder was back in place. Looking around she tried to gauge where she was. The scents of this place were weird to say the least. Catching a particular scent made her start then smile softly. She remembered this scent. Sitting against the wall she allowed her mind to wander to the past.

Flashback to 10 years before

_Alexius ran through the woods. Some type of black creature was chasing her. It kept hissing like some snake. She was being followed by at least five of them. Two were running behind her to keep her running and the other three were ahead of her trying to corner her. Luckily, she was smarter than these creatures. One of the three lunged at her from her left. With a quick roll to her right she barely avoided the sweeping claws of the other two. Coming out of that roll she flexed her now extended claws. Her cat-slitted eyes narrowed in warning as she crouched ready to fight. Her ears strained to pick up the slightest movement. The black reptilian like creatures was in a perfect circle around her. There hissing communication skills were getting on her nerves. Looking around she tried to discern which one would attack first, but knowing the ganging tactic all five of them would attack together. Getting low she readied herself for an all out assault. Suddenly all five of them leapt for her. With practiced ease she got out of her crouch and sliced into the first attacking creature. Its green blood splattered against her chest. Whimpering, she fought off the pain to slaughter the other four without getting their blood on her. Finally allowing the pain to wash over her, she moved unsteadily towards the stream. It was shallow, thankfully. She waded in and let the water wash away the acid. The chances of her scarring were a good percent. Getting out of the water she stood there and let the water drip from her form. Two other strange scents caught her attention making her head jerk up. Looking around she tried to locate the source of the scent. Two creatures stood in the shadows watching her. She carefully imprinted their scents into her mind for later use incase those two showed up again._

End flashback

Alexius sat there and decided to mediate. Invoking the trance like state she allowed her mind to be free. It wasn't that long into the meditation when she scented a familiar scent. The sliding door opened allowing someone to enter. She kept her eyes closed and used her other senses to tell her what the creature was like. The creature was definitely male. He was a confidant bugger she'd give him that from his walk. The creature stopped right in front of her.

"So we meet again?" she spoke softly.

The creature that stood before her was huge at least 7'6. She bowed her head in respect as her heritage taught her so long ago. He did likewise.

"Name?" he asked.

His voice said in rough English due to the normal hissing and purring of his normal language.

"My name is Alexius? And you?"

"Malakai."

She nodded and the two of them stared at the other as if trying to size the competition up.

"You will train with me," he said sternly.

"Seeing as I don't have a choice. I will do as you ask."

"Good," he purred.

He helped her to her feet and they headed down the hall to some unknown destination. When they arrived in a small room, Alexius took the few moments to look around. Moving into the middle of the room she stepped onto some squishy mate type thing. She figured it was there training arena. A playful thought occurred to her. Walking out onto the mat she jumped on it. Without warning Malakai threw himself at her trying to test her in the ways of fighting. He never saw her move.

"You know Malakai, if I don't want to be caught I won't be."

"Yet you are here," he pointed out.

"Smart ass."

She threw a punch and he dodged backwards. The two of them trained for a few more hours. Once they were exhausted they retreated to their rooms for some rest before dinner.


	3. Chapter 3: A Warrior's Past

The Wayward Daughter  
Chapter 3: A Warrior's Past

Alexius was sitting in her mediation pose. Her head was bowed and her hands were folded in her lap. Everything around her had its own scent. Malakai's fading scent was the one she focused on right at that moment. His scent was like a storm. In her minds eye she saw danger lurking in his amber eyes. There was something almost familiar about him beside's the first time they saw each other. It was a comforting familiarity; however, she shook it off knowing that any form of trust might cost her a lot. It wasn't particularly that she was afraid to trust someone else, it was because of what she was. She had to admit to herself that Malakai had not proven to her that she couldn't trust him.  
Getting up she figured it wouldn't hurt to explore the area. With a hunter's grace she walked slowly back to the training room. A slight glitter stopped her in her tracks. With a thief's' precision she moved into the small room. Looking around all sorts of things littered the walls. Most of them were skull's of various creatures. The biggest on made her snort and snarl. It was one of those reptile creatures that had chased her so long ago. There were various weapons on the walls as well. The one weapon that caught her attention made her yearn for home. Looking around first as if she was acting like she was about to steal something she moved forward her hand ran along the sheath of a magnificent blade. It was an ancient katana. The cross bands on the hilt were black where the hilt was revealed underneath the cross bands was silver. Engraved on the guard was a fox surrounded by flames. Her hand jerked back once her fingers ran across the blood encrusted crest on the sheath. Picking the old weapon up she used her claws to removed the layer of blood. Once the blood was moved away she looked at it closely. A half smile graced her features. It was the insignia for the silver kitsune clan. Pulling it out of the sheath the blade was still in good condition as if it had never been used.  
"Perfect," she growled in approval.  
Going back to the dojo she scented around making sure no one was close to where she was. There wasn't anyone close. Going into the middle of the room she threw off her outer long sleeve shirt leaving her in her white tank top and her baggy black pants. The sheathed blade was tied at her waist. Taking out her ponytail she braided her hair quickly. Getting down in a crouch with one hand on the hilt and the other on the sheath she ran over the old lessons in her mind. At first after drawing it the swings and movements were a bit rusty. It had been a long time since she had to rely on a blade such as this. Her claws were her main weapons of choice. She was an ancient warrior so if she never used guns or the like. She was taught with a blade as a child, and she had only honed those types of skills. Of course there had been the dragon youkai that had taught her the fine art of using daggers and fans as weapons. She, however preferred the old fashioned katana. Half way through her exercises the scent of a dangerous storm came into the room. The blade slipped from her fingers while in an upward toss and the blade embedded itself in the ceiling. A nervous laugh escaped her as she looked at Malakai. His face was blank of all emotion, but she figured if he was human his eye brow would be raised in a 'what the hell are you doing' look. Rolling her eyes she changed into her beast form without thinking about the consequences of her actions. Leaping up she yanked the blade out by the hilt with her teeth. The blade glittered dangerously in her mouth. Her body was that of a fox the size of a great Dane. Her fur was silver. At the tip of her ears was a splotch of black. The tip of her tail was black as well. Her belly fur was white.  
"Well, it looks like the cat is out of the bag."  
"True form?" he asked softly.  
She nodded and repeated what he said.  
"My true form."  
Her form shifted back to her humanoid form. Taking the blade carefully from her mouth she went to her discarded shirt and picked it up and whipped off the spit on the hilt. She re-sheathed the blade and tried to hand it back to him, but he just pushed it back her way.  
"Keep it," he ground out. "Work so well with it."  
"I was raised using a blade like this. Of course Kumori was a special blade. It was forged from darkness a long time ago and very few could even get near it."  
She just shrugged. The blade had been destroyed some two hundred fifty three years ago. It didn't matter to her now. Her claws were her weapons in this day and age.  
"Teach me."  
"Teach you what?"  
"Those blade moves."  
"Umm. I don't know I have to brush up on my technique before I can even begin to train anyone else."  
"Then we should work on your hand to hand skills. There are those here that think you shouldn't be here."  
"Let me guess they think I'm inferior because they think I'm human."  
"Something like that."  
She snorted darkly.  
"It has been a long time since someone even remotely thought I was human. The ears, the markings, the eye color, hell even my hair color give away that I'm not human. Oh well my kind is a dying breed anyway."  
For some odd reason the sight of her down and sad struck something in his heart. He wasn't use to these emotions. Shaking it off for the moment he got into a fighting stance. He'd analyze the emotions later. Alexius wasn't taking a fighting stance. Her head was tilted to the side looking at him. Without warning she moved, and he never saw it coming. He was slammed face first into the wall.  
"Kitsune youkai rely on speed not brute strength. Though I rely on both, that and my magic."  
She let him go. "I'm not being cocky either."  
"Then how is it I caught you?"  
"There was a part of me that wanted you to catch me. Besides I was fighting baser instincts and you at the same time. If we finish this battle now I'll kill you so that's enough."  
She grabbed up her stuff and retreated to her room. Sitting down she let her past control her again.

_Flashback_

_She walked slowly through the woods towards her den where her family resided. The forest was unusually quiet which unsettled the silver kitsune. Upon entering the cave she found her family slaughtered. Moving forward she tried to figure out what had slaughtered her family. What was heart wrenching was the fact that her pregnant sister wasn't even spared. (remember Predators don't kill pregnant women. 2nd movie reference.) Going deeper into the cave. The sound of growling and hissing made her start. Something black moved in the back of the room. What ever it was it was huge. A threatening growl escaped her throat. The creature what ever it was moved forward towards her causing her to back up towards the entrance of the cave. It was better to fight in open ground for her than in a tightly enclosed space. The creature followed her out into broad daylight. The creature was black with a huge crest. It hissed and growled at her. With rage burning within her she leapt for the creature and locked into an epic battle. She was easily swatted away.  
Suddenly a distortion in the vegetation made her try to get up. A gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her from getting up. A soothing purr growl escaped the figure that came uncloaked. The silver mask stared back at her menacingly. Three claw marks ran down the length of the mask. The creature patted her and rose. The two strange creatures locked in battle. Finally the big black creature lost its head to the other one. She tried to get up as the other creature moved towards her in panic. The creature placed his hand on her forehead as if trying to tell her to calm down. Breaking a claw off the black creatures body the creature lifted up her shirt revealing her lower back. With the acidic blood he etched something into her skin. She whimpered in pain for a moment. With a last pat on her head the creature picked up the black ones head and walked away._

End Flashback

Alexius shot out of her trance like state. Her hand reached around and felt the scar on her back. The only proof that her encounter that day hadn't been a dream. Part of her had suppressed that day because it was so painful. Something occurred to her just then. The first hunter's scent seemed familiar to her. Pulling through all the scent memories she had from the past she recognized the older hunter's scent and nearly died laughing at the absurdity of it. She had been told once that the mark on her back carried over in her beast form only that the mark was made of black fur. Deciding that she would ask Malakai about it tomorrow she moved to the bed and fell into it. Sleep claimed her quickly.


	4. Chapter 4: Train My Way

The Wayward Daughter

Chapter 4: Train My Way

Alexius woke to the heavy thudding of feet on metal. A soft growl escaped her. Rolling over she tried to go back to sleep. It was just her luck that the footsteps stopped at her door. Pretending to be asleep she allowed the Predator to get closer to her. The scent of a storm made her groan softly into her pillow.

"You know you're stealth methods suck big time Malakai. I heard you coming from a mile away."

"Get up," he commanded softly.

"Malakai if you don't go away right now I'm going to shred your sorry ass with my claws."

"I want to show you something."

"You are so freaking lucky that youkai don't need much sleep."

Sitting up, she threw aside the blankets. With care she stretched her muscles after she got up. Malakai titled his head to the side gesturing for her to follow him. Following him down a long maze of corridors she found herself in what looked like a trophy room of some sorts. Looking around she admired the handy work of the clan members. There was an ivory colored skull that caught her attention quickly and made her start. With a hunters grace she moved forward as if in a trance, she stood before the massive skull. On the crest of the skull sat a familiar symbol. Reaching up she stroked the symbol of her past.

"That's the Queen's skull," Malakai told her.

"Can I ask you something?" she began slowly.

"What is it?"

"Who killed this creature?"

"My father did, why?"

She smiled softly towards the skull.

"I knew your scent was familiar."

"How is that?"

"Did your father ever tell you the story that went along with this kill?"

"Yes, many times."

"Did he tell you about the creature he saved that day?"

From the look on his face she knew he didn't. "I didn't think so."

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Is your father still alive?"

"Yes, but where are you going with this Alexius?"

"He'll be surprised that the kit has grown up."

Her fingers traced the symbol lovingly.

"What does it mean?"

"Oh that's meiyo, translated it means 'honor'. Due to this symbol I'm indebted to your father, but of course he'd probably deny it."

Malakai nodded accepting the answer as it was and lead her to his father's room. He made her wait outside while he greeted his father. With ease he went into the room and walked back until he saw his father standing by his window staring out into the vast expanse of stars. (The conversation is going to be in Predator language.)

"Father?"

The grey dread locked predator looked toward his son from the window.

"What brings you here, my son?"

"Have you heard any rumors about me as of late?" he growled softly.

"I've been told that you've taken on a female student. No one, however; can tell me who she is."

"She is teaching me more than I'm teaching her."

"Is that so? Am I going to meet this mysterious girl?"

"She's not by any means young father. Her techniques are astounding."

"Well am I going to be able to meet her?"

"You have already."

"I have?"

"Yes, a long time ago."

Malakai laughed softly at his father's confusion.

"Malakai what is it that you're not saying?"

"Hold on a second."

He called out to Alexius to come in.

She took a deep breath and entered the room. Once she stood before the older Predator she bowed due to the significance of her heritage, a sign of respect for an elder. It was safe to say that the Predator was shocked. He thought the girl would have died years ago. Moving forward he lifted her chin up gently. Fiery eyes stared back defiantly back at his.

"So you made it through all this time?" he purred in Predator tongue.

It was a good thing that Alexius could pick up languages really fast.

"Youkai aren't ones to lie down and die easily, Elder," she said softly.

"As I see, I've never heard that word before what does it exactly mean?"

"It means demon. I am a kitsune youkai, a fox demon."

She smirked softly at him.

"I hear you are going to teach my son the ways of you're family."

"I'm going to try, Elder, but with what I am and what he is there might be a problem."

"No faith in me? I'm hurt Alex," Malakai joked softly.

"It's not that I don't have faith it's just we rely on two totally different methods of fighting."

"I don't see the difference. We both use weapons and strength."

"That's were you're wrong Malakai. I use my cunning over strength and weaponry. When I can't out think my enemy I use my claws. To teach you I'd have to teach you the ways to think like a fox."

"Then teach him," his father commanded. "That is the repayment for the debt you owe me, and if this test run is successful you can teach the others how to think like foxes."

"Yes, Elder," she said sighing softly.

The two of them were dismissed from his presence.

The two of them retreated to the training room or as she dubbed it a dojo. Alex sat down carefully in the middle of the room and gesture for Malakai to sit in front of her.

"Sit like I'm sitting."

He sat down and sat like she was. "Now to think like a fox you have to be able to focus on what's going around you. You see I use my other senses over my eye sight to find my enemy. I know you saw my fight with Kai. Before he even made a move I knew what way he was going to go. I could feel the air shift around me."

"So you're going to teach me to feel out my enemy's before they even attack."

"Something like that. You have to understand I'm over two hundred years old and I've been at this since I was just a kit. You're way behind Malakai. So what I'm going to do first is show you a few things. So close you're eyes and put your trust in me."

He closed his eyes upon the command. She reached out and placed her hands on each side of his face mindful of her claws. Closing her eyes she drew his mind into hers to show him truly what it means to be a true kitsune youkai. Sometime later they came out of the trance breathing heavily. They didn't know what time it was or how long they had been in the trance.

"That was your mind?" he asked softly while trying to breathe correctly.

"That was a small portion of my mine. That portion was my fighting half. No one but me will ever know what's in the other half unless they are my mate."

He accepted this for what it was. The thing was he was still at a loss for what he saw. She truly was a complex creature. Her fighting style complete threw him. She had been right when she had explained that they're fighting methods were completely different. He saw that when she trained she mostly did so in her own mind.

"Can I learn to train in my mind like that?"

"I guess so. I've never had to teach anyone how to train in their own mind because it's dangerous. I won't teach you that until much later. Something like that shouldn't be attempted alone unless you know what you're doing and I mean never alone Malakai."

He nodded in understanding knowing that he wanted to learn the technique. Thankfully he wasn't as reckless as some of the other Predators. The only truly reckless thing he had done was try and corner an enraged and hurt kitsune, but he'd never apologize for bringing her here. He didn't know what it was but something was drawing him to her. One of these days he figured he'd know what it was that had drawn them together. His mind was tired and he knew it could wait for another day. Shaking his head he looked at his partner. She looked beat. With care not to fall over he stood up. It took a moment for his legs to get blood circulation back into them. Alex had her head bowed as if she was asleep. Leaning down he carefully picked her up. Apparently the training wore her out more than she let on. From the look of her she probably hadn't gotten enough sleep in days.

"We will continue this later, Alex," he purred softly in her ear.

With care he headed towards her room. The door slid open admitting him to the room. With even greater care he laid her down gently on the bed and covered her up. "Sleep well my little fox," he purred lovingly.

He walked out of the room leaving the kitsune youkai alone. If he had looked back he would have seen a pair of shimmering amber eyes watching him leave. Once the door shut the kitsune youkai closed her eyes and whispered;

"Don't fall for me Kai. It'll mean your destruction in the end."

She rolled over and cried herself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5: The Truth Hurts

The Wayward Daughter

Chapter 5: The Truth Hurts

When consciousness reclaimed her she felt tired and sore. It had been a long time since Alexius had cried herself to sleep. Sitting on her bed she allowed her confused emotions to wash over her like a tidal wave. She wanted to fall in love someday but the dark cloud hanging over her past made it hard for her to even try to. Kai had just been the beginning. There were more like him back on earth looking for her. For some reason the though of watching Malakai dying made her insides twist up in knots. She knew before to long her instincts will kick into overdrive and danger would occur. It came about every time she went into heat. (Ok since she is a demon and not human she goes into heats like her animal counter part but she can resist the strong urges to mate.) Her silver fox tail appeared as she let the illusion drop showing off her fox feet. Her tail thrashed back and forth showing her confusion and irritation. Getting up she moved gracefully towards the door and then paced back towards her bed. This pacing kept up for a very long time. It didn't help to settle her mind like it normally did. Finally getting fed up with it she grabbed the old katana and went to the training room. Going out in the middle she got into a familiar crouching pose. Her eyes were closed as she recounted the old rhythm in her head.

The ancient dance was created by her great grandmother. She had traveled the world and had come across many generations of people. The gypsies of Europe and the women of India caught her eye the most. She had watched them move and then later created a sword training technique when she returned home to Japan. Ever since she was a kit she had learned the style even though the elders thought the training and fighting style were to bold. The sword had belonged to her great grandfather. Though it was a cooler sight she had been told if she used fans. Going out she began to fight the darkness that she knew was inside of her. Her focus was so deep that she didn't notice the shift in the air and the new scent.

"What are you doing here human?" a hissing growl was heard from behind her.

Whipping around she had the sword poised to attack the intruder. This predator was defiantly female by her stance.

"Why I'm here is none of your concern," she growled back.

Alexius didn't feel like dealing with territorial females. "I suggest you get out of here before I splatter your iridescent green blood all over the walls little girl."

Re-sheathing the sword she headed towards the door. What she didn't expect was that female to slam her entire body weight into her. She slammed into the wall but quickly recovered her stance.

"You're just an animal that needs to be put down."

"Then try to put me down," she snarled.

Crimson started to taint her eyes. The female Predator never knew what hit her. Before the larger female realized it green blood sprayed all over the wall. Alex changed into her beast mode and began to circle the wounded female like a shark on fresh blood.

"You're so lucky that wasn't a damaging blow."

She continued to circle the Predator. Her tail thrashed back and forth in irritation. Her ears would flick every now and then trying to catch any sound that was made.

"You won't last long among our clan. The Elders will have your head."

"If they want it they can try to take it."

The female Predator rose to her feet with a surprising grace for someone as big as she is. The kitsune calmed within her. This female wasn't a threat anymore. Turning, she then realized they had an audience. Looking at the gathering group she shrugged and then walked towards her room. Her knuckles were turning white as she gripped the katana in her hand. She didn't even care that Malakai was following her.

"What was that about?" he asked as the door to her room shut behind them.

"I'm here to train, not deal with territorial females," she snarled.

"No one…"

"Just shut up Malakai. I will train you nothing else. Be ready for a great deal of pain tomorrow."

She gestured for him to leave her alone. Inwardly she winced seeing the hurt and confusion in his amber eyes. He turned and left the room. Leaning against the darkest corner she cried herself into an exhausted sleep again.

Later

She woke to the sounds of voices in the room a few doors down. They were arguing over something. Closing her eyes she focused on what they were saying.

"Kai you know it's dangerous to associate with her kind. They're prey."

"I told you before Akane. She's been pronounced an honored ally."

"What does your father know? He saved her once that doesn't mean anything."

"Watch it," Malakai growled in warning.

"You're in love with her that's why she's here isn't it?"

"Whether or not I am is none of your concern."

"You are," she accused. "You're in love with that pathetic creature."

"If she is so pathetic then why did she defeat you before in one blow?"

"That battle was a fluke."

"You're dealing with something that's far older and superior to you."

"Stop defending her Malakai she'll drag you down in status."

"No, she won't."

"You're a fool then Malakai."

"Then I'll continue to be the fool for her."

"Is she that worth it?"

"Yes, she is."

The slamming of a door and the enraged stomping down the hall told her that Akane had went to her room. Alex bowed her head trying to fight back the tears that kept threatening to over take her senses. Going over to where her jacket was she pulled out a familiar object. The pendant was shaped like the crescent moon. She held it out before her and began to swing it absently like a pendulum. Her life had been so simple before Malakai took her from her home. Closing her eyes she let her memories take her again.

_Flashback_

_"Momma!" she said loudly._

_"What is it Alexius?" her mother asked as she uncurled a bit to look at her daughter._

_Alex sat down a full grown pig._

_"Alex!" her mother scolded. "That pig could have killed you."_

_Alex's ears laid back._

_"Momma I'm sorry."_

_The older kitsune got up and nudged her daughter gently to check for any wounds._

_"You did well Alex but don't do it again without help is that clear."_

_"Yes, Momma."_

_Scene switch months later_

_A silvery white kitsune entered the cave unbidden. A soft growl escaped Alex's throat trying to scare the intruder away._

_"Alexius is that you?" a familiar voice called out._

_"Grandma?" (Since she's young she won't use the great before grandma.)_

_Alex carefully moved out of the deep shadows to see for herself. It indeed was her great grandmother. "Grandma!" she squealed in excitement._

_"Are you ready to learn now granddaughter?" she asked the kit softly._

_"Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes." Alex said repeatedly._

_"Come on kit we start now."_

_The eager young kit followed the older one out and they began to train in the new dance that the older created._

_Every summer for two or three months the great grandmother trained her until one summer the older kitsune never came. Alex had figured she had died. That year however a dragon youkai came to teach her how to use other weapons in combat per her great grandmother's request on her death bed. After the dragon was finished teaching the kit all she knew the crescent pendant was passed on to her also a last request from her great grandmother._

_End Flashback_

Alex came out of the trance like state. Stopping the pendants swings she leaned back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. She slipped back into another trance so she could mentally prepare herself for the brutal beating she was going to give Malakai the next day. She had to be as cold as ice to keep him from her. She'd rather die alone than allow her past to claim another person that she loved.

_On the Astral Plane._

_Looking around the familiar swirl of black and red in the sky greeted her. The sky in here often reflected her mood. The red was the anger that still lingered over the other female even attempting to claim what she had already dubbed hers. The black was the sadness that was always there within her. Moving forward she watched as the grass land become desert. Her feet kicked up sand as she moved. The wind rustled her clothing. Her ears could only pick up her movements and sounds. Sometimes she could swear that her astral plane was a real place in the world, and she was walking there. The one thing that she had to watch for in her own mind was the quicksand holes here. There were traps in here incase someone tried to walk in the particular place without permission. The intruder always got one hell of a surprise. In the horizon there was always the lingering darkness, but Alex never ventured there unless she had to. Knowing that one day she would especially if she wanted to love Malakai any time soon. To actually face her darkness she'd have to find a dark place in the desert to fight it. Vowing to try soon she left her astral plane and fell into a true restful sleep._


End file.
